Meet the Collectives- The Hagalazi

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To me, this collective has a dark amethyst energy. The rune-drakes have dark amethyst scales.

Our resident hagalazi are Hagal and Misha. Hagal was the very first runic to make a 'known' appearance in my life. He chose an appearance quite similar to Gil Grissom from CSI fame and has the same calm personality. His name comes from that of his collective. Hagal's purview lies in the destruction to be found in wild thunderstorms and other types of weather destruction. He uses '  '  when interacting through me. Misha has only made herself known to me in her rune-drake form. She deals with the aspect that has to do with earth-based destruction- volcanoes and earthquakes. She uses the initials Mi.

'The hagalazi can be among the most indifferent of runics to work with, just as Hagalaz is a rather indifferent type of runic energy. Hagalaz is the energy of impersonal destruction. There is no malice to what we do. We are the essence of wildfires, of flash-floods, of lightning, hail and snow storms. We are the tornadoes, the typhoons, the earthquakes and volcanoes. We are the tsunami and the supernova. We are the virii and the bacteria. We are the slate-wipers, the necessary destruction that culls the population, to make way for new growth and impersonal destruction of some sort is necessary for all new growth. The flooding of rivers brings in sediment that allows for richer plant growth. Redwood forests need wildfires in order to flourish and thrive. Disease and illness in populations culls out the weaker members and restricts overpopulation. We think and perceive in such a vastly different fashion that, to the collective as a whole, you are to us what the animals and insects are to you. We bear you no personal ill-will. We are destruction in its most pure and essential form.'

Mi- All things contain the essences of Hagalaz just as they contain the essence of all other runic energies. For most tangible things, this is displayed in its potential for unintentional destruction. A landslide, the nail in the road that gets stuck in your tire, falling slate shingles. Hagalaz energy can also be found in the things you unintentionally absorb from others that lock in place patterns of thinking that will then lead to the generation of Thurisaz energy. The parent who, regretting having a child so young, makes comments that said child accidentally overhears and that then lock in place feelings of low self-worth on a fundamental level. The parent may never actually have acted regretful in the presence of the child and never intended the child to overhear such things. The destruction is unintentional, not personally directed as Thurisaz energy would be. If the parent in question actively abused the child, either verbally or physically, because of their feelings of regret, that would not be Hagalaz energy, but unbalanced Thurisaz energy.

Questions to consider when working with Hagalaz energy- One of my favorite quotes is 'Auguries of destruction be a lullaby for rebirth'.  This quote, from the song Key to Twilight, pretty much sums up what Hagalaz energy means to me and it is a great quote to meditate on in order to better understand this awesome energy. What is your relationship to impersonal destruction? Can you accept it into your life? How do you respond when it comes into your life?

Meet the Collectives- The Uruzi

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To me, this collective has golden yellow energy. The rune-drakes have golden yellow scales and curled horns.

Our resident uruzi are Turak, Isvald and Gerald. Turak represents the aspect of Uruz that deals with physical health and vitality. He usually presents as a barrel-chested male with blue eyes and blond hair.  He uses the initials Tk. Isvald represents the aspect that deals with strength, both mental and physical. He usually presents in the serpentine rune-drake form, though occasionally as a male with black hair and sea-green eyes. His initials are Iv. Gerald represents the aspect dealing with self-confidence. He usually presents as a slightly pudgy male with brown hair and brown eyes, but often keeps the curly horns. His initials are Gd.

Tk- How is your health, your inner vitality? Are you often sick or fatigued? Learning to appreciate what measure of health and vitality you have will increase the Uruz energy you have within.  Each and every living thing has some measure of their Uruz energy bound up in their immune system, the part of the body that keeps you healthy and disease-free.

Iv- The essence of our collective can be found in everything and found everywhere. Sometimes the Uruz energy of a particular person or object might not be readily observable. It is there nonetheless. And, as with Fehu, sometimes strength is a measure of personal perceptions. The Uruz energy of an object might lie in its load-bearing ability, in its sturdiness, in its durability, which can all be quite different depending on the object. The differences in terms of human strength can be just as varied. Uruz energy isn't just tied to muscular build and physical strength. There is also mental strength, spiritual strength, strength of focus and dedication, ethical and moral strength. A person's (or object's) Uruz energy is very likely to be tied to another runic energy. A person's wealth may lie in his or her mental strength and ability to focus. A person whose strength lies in focus and dedication has their Uruz energy tied to Tyr energy as well.

Gd- Self-confidence is another area where your Uruz energy can be found. Are you full of self-confidence or do you lack it? This is an area that is also tied to Fehu energy. Self-worth and self-confidence are not the same thing, but it is certainly hard to have much of one if you don't have much of the other. In addition, low self-esteem can also be tied to having low vitality and poor health because of how your Uruz energy combines with your Thurisaz energy.

Questions to consider when working with Uruz- Where does your strength lie? What are your strengths? How is your physical health? Your emotional health? How strong is your sense of self-confidence?

Meet the Collectives: The Fehui

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To me, this collective has a coppery colored energy. The rune-drakes have copper colored scales.

            

Our resident fehui are Copper and Tong'shu. Copper represents the aspect of Fehu that deals with self- worth, Tong'shu, with the more physical aspect. Copper usually presents herself as a slender young woman with amber eyes and copper colored hair. She uses the initials Cp. Tong'shu usually presents himself as a dapper male with jet black hair and blue eyes. He uses the initials Ts.

Cp- What is the 'wealth' of a person? It lies in their sense of self-worth. How much do you value yourself? How strong is your sense of self-worth? If these things are low, you may have difficulty working with our collective. We ask you that you take a good look at yourself and see where your wealth lies. If a person feels they have no value in and of themselves, they will find it passing difficult to truly appreciate the wealth in others, the value of things. If your sense of self-worth is low, you will benefit from working with the energy of Fehu, but you must approach this task with strength and determination, for you may learn things about yourself that you will find hard to deal with. One must learn to appreciate their value for themselves, not seek it in the approval of others. If you can only determine your own sense of worth in terms of how other people view you, then you are destined to always be at odds with our collective and with yourself, for that matter.

Ts- The essence of our collective is in value, in the 'wealth' of an object. Everything has a price, be it an agreed upon one for physical goods or a deeper, more personal value. Value and wealth need not always have connotations of money. What physical price can a mother put on holding her child for the first time? Such things are valuable precisely because no-one can put a physical price to it. In addition to personal value and monetary value, wealth can be gauged in terms of the amount of time, energy or skill needed to carry out something. While your societies have agreed upon prices for many things, it is still important to remember that this value assignment is still subject to and built around communal perceptions. There is also a distressing tendency among your people to assume that if something isn't expensive, then it simply isn't as 'good' as something more expensive. This is certainly not the case!

Questions to consider when dealing with Fehu- Where does your wealth lie? How strong is your sense of self-worth? How do you value material objects? Sacred ones? The things that truly have no price? Do you take them for granted or appreciate their value?  

Beginnings- Finding Your World Tree and Accessing the Rune Gates

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As I've mentioned previously.... the runic energies suffuse everything. They are everywhere, in all things, in both our subjective experiences and our shared experiences. As we go through, you will learn to find the runic energies in everything. How you perceive a collective's energy in, say, a chair or a box or an apple, will reflect the aspects of that collective that most resonate with you. Keep these things in mind! If you can perceive these energies in all things, you can work with them in a magickal context, should you wish! How you choose to weave magick with runic energies will depend on those resonances. There is no right or wrong way, so long as you have a full understanding of yourself and what these collectives mean to you and, of course, you treat them respectfully. Remember always that the runic collectives are comprised of sentient forces who think and act quite differently from people, even if you do have some that choose to appear to you in a human guise. Ill-treating the runic ones can back-fire on you in the most unpleasant of ways.

Nauthizi rune-drake with Nauthiz variant

Finding Your World Tree

You may already have established grounding/centring, journey or meditation practices that you prefer to use. that can be quite easily adapted to working with the runic collectives. What I have outlined here are my personal preferences. If you find them useful, adapt them to your own needs!

For grounding and centring, I used a method of imagining or visualizing my scattered energy being pulled in as if by a magnet located in my heart centre. Music also serves me well as a grounding and centring method. Listening to a purely instrumental version of the song Teardrop by Massive Attack can almost instantly tranquillize me. I have recently learned that the opening theme to the show Star Trek: Voyager can do the same.

So... let's get down to the finding your own personal resonance with the World Tree. Settle down and ground and centre yourself. Open yourself to the imaginal world and state the intention to find your inner access to the World Tree. Allow your mind to ponder this question and see what sort of tree comes to mind. Don't try to force things. Just remain relaxed and focused on your intent. Open yourself as fully as you can to seeing this inner resonance with the World Tree. When you feel things are complete, end your meditation.

Yggdrasil, the Norse World Tree, is generally considered a yew, but many people consider it to represent all trees. No matter what your inner resonance with the World Tree is, it is correct. In addition, the state your tree is in can tell you a lot about yourself. Try this meditation over several days to familiarize yourself with your World Tree resonance.

Accessing the Rune-Gates

I use the World Tree to access the essences of the runic collectives. This exercise is to help you begin exploring the runic collectives and learn how these runes speak to you. I would highly recommend doing this meditation with each rune in turn, journalling your experiences. 

Settle down into a comfortable position, holding onto a representation of the rune you wish to explore. This could be an actual runestone or it could be a card or paper with the rune drawn on it. Ground and centre yourself and call up your link with the World Tree.

Imagine that you are standing at the base of this great tree. State your intention to visit the runic collective of (whichever rune you are working with) to learn what it means to you. Wait a few moments, holding that intention. Do you feel drawn to any particular place on the tree? A hole under the roots, perhaps? Or do you feel drawn to climb the tree? Trust your intuition and follow it. You should be led to an opening. It may be a door with the rune carved in it or it may be an opening with the rune etched around the edges or carved into the bark before the gateway. Go through the gateway and see what images, sensations, feelings, etc. appear to you. What does the realm of the runic collective of your rune of choice look like to you? Spend as much time as you like exploring the area. Delve as deep into the rune as you can. Fifteen minutes is a good minimum time, but longer is, of course, preferable. When you are finished, be sure to thank the collective. At this point you may either choose to return to the tree and find the gate to another collective or you may end the session.

After each meditation, journal about your experience. You should do these meditations often as you progress in your studies to see what new things will come to you.

Now for the fun part!  During the next several posts I will let my runai companions 'speak'. For me, this is not channelling. I prefer to consider myself a 'telegrapher'. Sometimes they share space with me, but I am always in control. More often than not, I am writing what I 'hear', as if someone were sitting next to me, dictating. I suppose it helps to have training as a medical transcriptionist! Each chooses initials, usually based on the name they have chosen for themselves, to denote who is speaking. There are some exceptions to this, most notably with Marcus, one of the thurisazi, who took his initials from his collective- Thz. Quite often, when the runics make themselves known, I perceive them in a rune-drake form. Others prefer a more human appearance and some have even pulled their appearances (and/or their names) from my mind, which can make things quite interesting.... I've included descriptions of how my runics choose to manifest.

Altars and Offerings

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As I've worked with the runic collectives, I've come to see them as deities in their own right. They are primal forces that suffuse everything. Even if you never come to see the runic ones in this manner, they are still elemental beings deserving of the same respect and honor you would give any other spirit allies you work with.

Setting up a runic altar is a good idea, if you are going to choose to work with the runai. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. Your runic altar should be set in a place where it will not be disturbed by kids, pets or inquisitive visitors.

The altar I have set up for my runics consists of a box that contains my pouches of runes, one of my rune-drake plaques, a variety of things I associate with the different runic collectives- stones, a statue of the Earth Mother that makes me think of Berkana, shells, a screw and bolt, and the like- and a holder for my offering candle. This brings us to another important consideration, that of making offerings.

Ask what the runics would like for offerings and trust your intuition. What is acceptable from me may very well not be what they might wish from you. Each day I light a candle offering. When I light it, I dedicate it to each collective in turn and thank them all for their assistance and guidance. In addition, you may have offerings for specific runics. We have a jar in our house, in the family area, that is dedicated to offerings for our elhazi guardian. We put pretty stones and other small things in the jar. Once filled, the jar and contents are buried and a new one made. My hagalazi companion likes offerings of rock candy. As I said before, just ask and trust your intuition!

All that being said, it behooves the student to begin the exploration of the collectives with a small altar and offering area, which will certainly grow and change as you begin to interact with the collectives. For this basic runic altar, you need a space that will not be disturbed by nosy people or pets. Having an altar cloth is optional. What you do need is a tea light holder, a supply of tea lights and your rune set, be they crafted or purchased.

Setting up a basic altar is nothing more than dedicating a sacred space to put your runes and the candle offering holder. Cleanse the area in whichever fashion you choose.

Before you begin working with any given collective, you should light an offering for that collective. At this time, you may wish to ask for guidance to be given during your meditation work with the collective and to give thanks to that collective for working with you.

Runic Energies in the Media

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Runic energies, like archetypes, become easy to spot in our literature and media, once you know what to look for. These may be balanced or unbalanced expression of the rune energy. Here are just a few examples:

Fehu- Scrooge McDuck, from Ducktales. Pretty self-explanatory. He hoards gold and is all about making money.

Uruz- The Incredible Hulk is a nice example of the pure physical strength aspect of this rune.

Thurisaz- This pretty much sums up the main theme of CSI as a whole. Artemis Entreri from R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt novels is a good example of unbalanced Thurisaz energy.

Ansuz- Gandalf is a good example of this rune.

Raidho- This rune runs all through the anime Saiyuki and the folk-legend Journey West.

Hagalaz- pretty much any disaster movie contains the major them of impersonal destruction. Examples include Deep Impact, Dante's Peak, Outbreak and The Day After Tomorrow.

Nauthiz- In the show House, M.D., House and Wilson represent opposing aspects of this rune. House 'needs' people, even as he pushes them away. He is balanced by Wilson, who has a deep need to 'be needed.'  The same applies to Sherlock and Watson, in the show Sherlock. And, well, any manifestation of the Great Detective. Neelix, from Star Trek Voyager, is another good example of the ‘being needed’ aspect of this collective.

Perthro- Episode 11 of Deep Space Nine's second season, Rivals, focuses on probability and luck.

Finding the Runic Energies In All Things- Personality

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The energies of the runic collectives permeate everything. Over the next few posts, I hope to demonstrate how you can find the essence of the runic collectives in all things. For each of these, I have only used the first 24 runes that I discussed over the past several weeks.

Of me, Cala Gobraith.....

Fehu- As mentioned earlier, I have a somewhat antagonistic relationship with this particular collective. My own sense of self-worth is rather low. However, my family and friends value my company. I am a teacher and a writer and those are places my wealth lies.

Uruz- I have a stubborn streak that certainly fits with Uruz energy. While my physical health is somewhat lacking, my mental and spiritual strength makes up for it.

Thurisaz- I repress most emotions, bottling things up. Though I've spent a good deal of time learning to work productively with Thurisaz energy, there are still times when I do lose my temper and become grouchy.

Ansuz- I teach and write. By doing these things, I pass on what knowledge I have, such as this class!

Raidho- I have mobility problems. I used to enjoy walking and did so often, but thanks to a hip injury and fibromyalgia, my ability to walk has been somewhat curtailed. I quite often require a cane if I do lots of walking.

Kennaz- I write, I create beautiful wood-burn plaques and I teach. In addition, I have studied and collected the skills of an archaeologist, a forensic anthropologist and an energy healer.

Gifu- I give of my time and knowledge in teaching and writing.

Wunjo- I'm still learning to cultivate happiness in my life.. My family brings joy to my life and I would like to think I bring joy to theirs as well.

Hagalaz- I lost my eye several years ago due to natural causes. I also suffer from several other natural inflictions, including fibromyalgia.

Nauthiz- I have people in my life whose needs I have fulfilled. Nauthiz is the collective that 'claimed' me and fulfilling the needs of others seems something I am destined to do.

Isa- among my lovely collection of Hagalaz gifted ailments is hypothyroidism. This, and the fibromyalgia, make me slow and prone to sleeping lots. This is a far cry from how active I was before I lost my eye and sometimes I have difficulty reconciling what I was capable of with what I am capable of now.

Jera- My successes include graduating college, publishing several books, becoming a certified energy healer, and becoming a teacher. Some successes I have hope for in the future are to earn a doctorate, to become certified as a medical transcriptionist and to publish several more books.

Eihwaz- I am a very introspective person by nature. With my writing and my teaching, I make ripples.

Perthro- Losing my eye was a Perthro moment for me because it initiated a massive probability shuffle in my life that threw me off my hopeful career track. Another big Perthro moment came from an invitation to move all the way from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Elhaz- I am absolutely obsessed with security and will make sure wherever I am at is all buttoned up, at least to the best of my ability. I am also a rather protective person towards those who are mine to protect.

Sigel- I quite often have a dearth of Sigel energy in my life. However, I do get motivated when the writing bug strikes me.

Tyr- I am stubborn, as I mentioned earlier and stubbornness is as much Tyr energy as it is Uruz energy. I had to draw on my Tyr energy a few years ago to break an unfortunate addiction to Ambien, a sleeping aid. My tyri guide, Kei, was invaluable in helping keep me on task for that!

Berkana- I am a writer and that requires a fertile imagination. I enjoy opening the doors to new worlds.

Ehwaz- I am a certified energy healer. I have college degrees and am working on a doctorate. Those are all things that add to my status. I tend to pay less attention to 'status', per se, but I really am looking forward to a Ph.D behind my name!

Mannaz- My identity is in flux. I am in the process of shedding the old, shedding my past, and with that I will be fully shedding my old name and embracing my new one.

Laguz- My Laguz energy doesn't flow as well as I would like. I repress emotions that need to flow to be acknowledged and respected.

Inguz- I keep a notebook that I write down all kinds of snippets that later become class topics, book topics, creative writing or poetry topics. I love finding things to spark my inspiration!

Dagaz- Losing my eye was a big moment of transition in my life, as was my move to CA. My current transition from an old life to a new one is in the chrysalis stage. We'll see how long it is before I am a butterfly.

Othala- I 'inherited' some debilitating behaviours and beliefs from my birth family, but I also inherited many good things. It is from that same birth family that I get my gift of writing and my love of literature, as well as my modest talent at wood-burning.

I hope that, after treading these past few posts and, exploring the ideas for yourself, you will continue to look for the runic energies in all things. It's fun and can certainly help you expand your ways of thinking.